PS01 - Tall, Dark & Lonely (39 page)

womb starts showing you’ll have a harder time fighting back,” Eric explained. “If you’re hurt badly your body will destroy the

baby to save itself.”

“Oh, then can’t I move to a Sentinel house and be protected there until the baby comes?”

Eric watched as Ephraim’s entire body started to tremble from rage. His eyes turned a cold red as his teeth dropped. There

wasn’t a Sentinel on earth who would willingly come between a male Pyte and his pregnant mate. “No, no one will protect you

better than the father of your baby. You have to trust me on this.” Eric took a step towards the door. “If you need me give me a

call,” he said to Chris.

“No problem.”

“I’m glad to hear that Ephraim is training you. I was worried that you were defenseless. Now I know better.” With that Eric

took his leave.

“Dad, she fed an hour ago and there’s still blood in the fridge so I’m going to the training room and work with the knives

before dinner.”

“That’s fine just make sure you set the table. Your grandmother’s on a war path.” Ephraim managed to say through his rage.

“No problem.” Chris looked at Madison who looked just as angry and ready for a fight. “I’m really sorry you’re upset,

Madison, but I’m glad you’re going to be okay now. I was really worried about you.” She nodded stiffly to him before he left.

Two angry Pytes stared at each other. No one moved. No one spoke. They were both too furious to do anything other than let

the other one know they were pissed.

Finally Ephraim spoke. “You can still eat food you know. The baby will need both human food and blood. It should solve any

nausea you’ve been experiencing as well as help balance your hormones.”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? I thought you couldn’t break food down.”

“I can’t. You can while you’re pregnant. Then our son will need both until he makes his change or he’ll be trapped in weak

body until the transformation.”

She nodded accepting what he told her. “You know I hate you still.”

He turned to walk out. “I know. Believe me I know.”

******

“I heard that,” Ephraim whispered in the other room.

“I know,” she said testily. “Jackass.”

He groaned. “Are you going to be quiet any time soon so I can get some sleep?”

“Jerk.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’.”

She tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. Great, he even ruined sleep for her. He made her dependant on him to fall

asleep. She needed his warm body to curl up against. She curled up on her side and hugged his pillow, hoping it would be a

good enough replacement to allow her to sleep. It wasn’t.

“Can’t sleep?” his soft voice asked.

“Shut up, I hate you.”

“Yes, so you keep telling me,” he said dryly.

“Jerk.”

She heard him move on the couch. He was just as uncomfortable as she was. That made her smile. Good. If she wasn’t going to

get any sleep neither was he.

“Are you going to work tomorrow?” he asked suddenly.

“Yes, there’s only one week of school left. No point in missing it. Not that it’s any of your business what I do anymore.”

“Just try not to bite anyone,” he said mockingly.

She sat up in bed, growling. She grabbed his pillow, wishing it was him and threw it across the room. “Jerk!”

“You know what I think?” he asked.

“What?” she snapped.

“I think you still love me.”

“Ha!”

“You’re pissed I’ll give you that, but you still love me and you know what else?”

“I bet you’re going to tell me.”

“You want me.”

“Ha!”

“I bet your body is missing me right now. It needs me. Think about it, Madison. You know it’s true. I’ve got your body trained

to expect me four or five times a day. You haven’t had me in a week. You’re desperate for me.”

“Wow, someone sure thinks highly of himself. I can assure you that sex with you is the last thing on my mind.” And it wasn’t

until he mentioned it. Now she was thinking about it. Damn him!

“You want me, Madison. Admit it.”

“Ha! I think it’s you that wants me!”

“Oh, you have no idea who badly I want you at this moment,” he growled. “I want to come in there and yank that sheet away

from you and tear your panties off with my fangs. Then I want to ram my tongue into you over and over again the same way I’d

fuck you and I wouldn’t stop pounding into you until you squeezed me dry.”

What was she supposed to say to that? He sounded so intense that it sent shivers throughout her body. She wanted him so badly

now that she had to squeeze her legs together, hoping to stop the ache.

He chuckled deeply. “Now I
know
you want me.”

She turned and buried her face in her pillow. “Jerk!”

Chapter 26

Madison stared in the mirror with her handy tweezers ready, but there was nothing to tweeze. Nothing. It had been three weeks

since the last time she tweezed her eyebrows and by now she should have caveman brows, but no, they still looked as they did

the morning she was abducted.

She tossed the tweezers onto her small, but expensive, pile of useless cosmetics that she no longer seemed to need. Her skin

looked healthy and radiant. She couldn’t find anything to touch up or that needed toning. Damn him, she thought as she picked

up her pink razor and tossed that onto the pile.

After her forced transformation she decided to stop shaving in hopes that he would be repulsed enough to stop leering at her

every time they were in the same room. It should have only taken a few days to grow some decent stubble, but her new change

took care of her need to ever shave again. She wondered if her body was frozen as in death from the transformation, never

changing.

That thought ended a week ago when she realized her hair was still growing. Her body it seemed was selective on what

changed and what didn’t. When she decided to ask Ephraim, one of the very few times she’d spoken to him over the past

couple of weeks, the jerk had the nerve to run an appreciate eye over her body.

None of this made sense since he still shaved. She knew he did. A few times she'd shaved him herself. According to Mr.

Highhanded the body would keep itself in what it deemed perfection. Hair and facial hair were things of added beauty. A

Pyte’s greatest weapon was its ability to attract its prey. So, the body kept itself accordingly.

Not that she was complaining about having an hour a day freed up, but she really was. She didn’t like this at all. Her life was

changed forever because she fell in love with the wrong man. The only thing good that came out of this was the baby in her

stomach.

She never thought she would want a baby of her own after raising Jill and Joshua. Joshua still had eight more years before he

would be out on his own. She always thought when that time came she would be free to live her life and do what she wanted.

Now it seemed another ten years would be added to her time line. Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things now.

Thanks to that high-handed bastard she had eternity to live her life. She groaned aloud, no doubt after the first century she

would get bored and settle into a life of soap operas and bonbons, correction, blood filled bon bon’s. The jerk.

At least it was summer time and she had the next two months off. Her days were filled with sunbathing, swimming and walking.

Oh, and of course sneaking away so she could drink a few pints of blood. She learned early on the more she drank the more

self-control she had.

The first day had been hell sitting in a classroom full of hormone driven kids. Every kid gave off a different mouth watering

aroma. It had taken everything she had not to jump over her desk and partake of the buffet. Stupid Ephraim. He had the nerve to

show up during her free period with five bags of blood for her. Stupid thoughtful jerk.

He was always doing stuff like that. Whenever they were in the pool swimming, which she never invited him to join her, the

kids did, the traitors, he always brought two coolers. A large one with juices, waters and sodas for her and the kids and the

other was small and locked, filled with bagged blood. He always distracted the kids so she could go off and drink. He never

fed until she did and never until he made sure she drank as much as she wanted.

At night he hummed a lullaby in the office for as long as it took for her to fall asleep. He was attentive and sweet when it came

to her comfort and care. Other than that he seemed to avoid her just as much as she was avoiding him. It was annoying. She was

supposed to be mad at him not the other way around. She was the one who was changed against her will, forced to live a life of

a bloodsucker, albeit a bloodsucker with really good pores, but a bloodsucker nonetheless.

The bathroom door off the office opened and Ephraim, naked as usual, stumbled into the bathroom. She kept her back to him

and pretended he wasn’t there, which was their normal routine. Her eyes followed his movements of their own accord and

dropped down to his hips. Her mouth watered as it did every time she saw him naked and fully erect. She was starting to think

that he was doing that on purpose.

Her hands gripped the edge of the counter tightly as she tried to force her mind to think of puppies and kittens playing with a

ball of yarn, anything to keep her mind off of sex. She might lust after him, but that didn't mean he needed to know.

Ephraim chuckled as he passed her. Damn it! The man was irritating as hell! In another week that smug grin would be wiped

off his face and he would give in. This surely was a battle of wills at this point. Neither was talking to the other more than what

was absolutely necessary and they seemed to be doing their best to aggravate and tease each other. It was really pissing her off.

This was a game and she was not going to lose. She hated to lose so she would start doing what any sane woman in this

situation would do, cheat.

She would have him on his knees in a week begging for her forgiveness. He’d already apologized and in the back of her mind

she understood and even appreciated what he’d done for her and their son, but she was still hurt by his methods. He really

scared her that night. It could have been done so differently. That was what hurt the most. The fear and the bitter loneliness she

felt while he was doing it.

Madison loved him. Hell, she adored him, but he had to learn that he couldn’t treat her like that ever again. She wasn’t some

child to be handled. He hurt her. He was the one man she trusted above everyone else, the only man she ever trusted, and he did

this to her without her permission. She would forgive him, but only on her terms.

Ephraim was busy relieving himself when she put the first part of her plan into motion. He had a routine that he never faltered

from. He woke up, drank two pints of blood, relieved himself and took his shower before he did anything else. Nothing came

between him and his shower.

Last week when the city had to shut the water off to fix the main he sat on the bathroom counter for four hours, waiting for the

water to be turned on. It seemed to be his weakness, well one of his weaknesses. With a coy smile Madison stripped out of her

tee shirt and pajama pants and stepped into the shower. She turned on the water and smiled. He was going to be rip roaring

mad. She looked forward to it.

“Pass the soap?” his asked from behind her.

She shrieked and jumped. How did he do that? She had super sensitive hearing thanks to him and he kept sneaking up on her.

After she was done being mad at him and he sufficiently groveled she would have to ask him to show her how he did that.

“Stop doing that!” she snapped. It was hell on her nerves. It really was.

He yawned loudly. “Sorry,” he muttered. He reached past her for the soap, brushing his stomach and other
things
against her.

Then he stepped back as if it was nothing. Her body on the other hand was on fire now.

“Ephraim, what are you doing in here?” she asked, making sure to sound put out.

“A shower. What does it look like? You know I always take a shower first thing in the morning.”

“But
I’m
in here,” she pointed out irritated.

“Hmm, so you are. How about that?” he said in an amused tone.

She looked over her shoulder, giving him her best scowl. “Get out.”

“Of course, how rude of me.”

“I agree. Now get out.”

“I’m leaving….right after my shower,” he said with a straight face.

She groaned. “You can’t be in here. I’m naked!”

His eyebrows pulled together as his eyes ran down her body, slowly. “Look at that you are. Hmm, imagine that.”

He lowered his head over her to wet his hair. When he straightened again he wiped the excess water off his face. Since he was

no longer looking at her she decided to give up glaring at him and finish her shower. This match was lost.

Ephraim watched as the water ran down her smooth darkly tanned skin. Her skin reminded him of mocha, it was only a touch

darker than his own, but he liked it nonetheless. Toasty, that’s what he thought of when he saw her skin. It looked warm and

inviting and in fact was. He missed holding her at night. He longed to hold her in his arms with her bare back warming his

stomach while her very delicious bottom kept his pelvis snuggled in heat.